Short Abstract

In 2021 Agulhas and OpenCities undertook a mid-term review of WRI's Strategy, which directly influenced WRI's 2023-2027 strategy. Recommendations fed clearly into the current strategy and organisational set up, including; MEL, country transitions and integrating gender, equity and social inclusion.

Description

Agulhas and OpenCities delivered a review of WRI’s progress against its 2018-2022 Strategy, covering work undertaken by WRI’s programs, centres, country offices, delivery platforms, and core functions (HR, MEL, operations etc). The review involved WRI senior management at all stages and included assessing how well WRI was joining up across the organisation as well as integrating cross-cutting themes of poverty, gender, and social equity across its work and how well its MEL systems were supporting evidence-based learning and adaptation at global and country levels. The review included an in-depth review of WRI’s Africa strategy. Findings were warmly received by WRI management and directly and comprehensively informed the design and development of WRI’s current Strategy 2023-2017 as well as its structure and way of working.

Our presentation will demonstrate how a comprehensive, multi-dimensional external review can become an agent of change for global organisations tackling urgent and dynamic challenges. It will highlight how a collaborative and participatory approach to evaluation can ensure lessons are not only integrated into formal design and strategy documents but also actively inform shifts in organisational culture, governance, and programmatic integration. The presentation will show how evaluation findings were translated into actionable reforms, including WRI developing a unified results framework, breaking down operational silos, and mainstreaming gender and social equity. The session will also address challenges encountered, such as organisational inertia, leadership transitions, and data limitations, and reflect on how iterative engagement and responsiveness to context enhanced the influence of the evaluation on policy and programming. By exploring both what worked and what proved challenging, the session aims to offer transferable learning on achieving evaluation influence and supporting adaptive management in other organisations facing uncertain and evolving policy environments.